Why conserve a rare breed?

[juliepoudrier]

This subject may be more appropriate for the livestock section, but I thought it was an interesting story, especially when we get into discussions about border collies and what they were meant to be and how they are changing--and that some folks think the changes are inevitable and necessary and that trying to save those "old things" is pointless.

 

This is a story about Jacob sheep that was published in the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy newsletter. I am paraphrasing it here.

 

The story starts in 1999 when a couple who raise Jacob sheep took two lambs to Texas A&M because they believed that the lambs had a rare congenital defect known as occipital condylar dysplasia. It turns out the lambs did not have that genetic defect but instead had a lysosomal storage diseae. There are various types of lysosomal storage disease, and animals or humans with the disease lack an enzyme that breaks down waste products from the spinal cord-brain connection. The ultimate result is loss of coordination, appetite, and sight, and eventually death.

 

The university and the breeders traced the genetic problem back to one suspected sire, but to confirm he was the "culprit" the breeders had to continue breeding carriers to prove him as the source. So for four more years the couple continued to breed both suspected carriers and noncarriers. The hope was also to be able to identify the nature of the lysosomal storage disease these sheep carried. The couple made the findings known to other Jacob breeders, and continued breeding and kept a small group of suspected carriers in the hope that the disease might be fully identified, although since the Jacob sheep isn't commercially important, research was not a high priority. They kept that small group of carriers basically on faith.

 

Fast forward to 2008 when researchers at Texas A&M contacted the breeders to tell them that the disease in their Jacob sheep was the same form of the disease that occurs in children: Tay-Sachs. They wanted to know if the breeders still had carriers in their flock, which they did, and those carriers were confirned with DNA and new enzyme tests.

 

To make a long story short, a Tay-Sachs gene therapy consortium was established in 2007. This is a group of researchers in the US and UK who hope to start a gene therapy clinical trial for Tay-Sachs disease within the next four years. Tay-Sachs is incurable, as are many diseases that are related. Like Tay-

Sachs, some of them are fatal. According the the article, "the genetic similarities between sheep and man and other neurological diseases are as close a match as we may ever get."

 

"Another member of the Consortium, Dr. Miquel Sena-Esteves of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School remarked: 'The goal of identifying and eliminating Tay-Sachs in Jacob sheep in order to preserve the breed is a noble goal. But we who are working on a human gene therapy cure are very happy that you did not succeed and kept the carriers for the last decade. These sheep are genetically significant."

 

So in this case, conserving a rare breed and the efforts of one couple to find out what was causing health problems in their lambs might lead to a cure for a fatal human disease.

 

If you're someone who is interested in breed conservation, like me, and someone asks you "Why bother?" well here's a story that gives you a reason why.

 

J.

[1sheepdoggal]

Aint it a wonderment!

[KrisK]

According the the article, "the genetic similarities between sheep and man and other neurological diseases are as close a match as we may ever get."

 

This is something I had not heard before. I knew that pigs are often sited at being similar when it comes to organ donations but genetic similarities between humans and sheep....very interesting!

I have looked at the rare breed registries on occasion. I hope someday to be in a position to take on such a responsibility.

I think conserving rare breeds is important in maintaining a broad genetic base. IMHO, I think if we become too focused on one breed above all others eg. the Holestein cow for milk, we will wind up in a crisis should some disease ever target that particular breed. Similarly, I am relieved to know that there are organizations that are working at preserving grains, etc that have NOT been genetically modified. It bothers me a great deal to think that we could possibly be dependent on a very limited gene pool for our food products.

[ShoresDog]

It bothers me a great deal to think that we could possibly be dependent on a very limited gene pool for our food products.

Me too. That is a fascinating tale, Julie. And anyhow, Jacob sheep are so cool-looking with those big horns. Diversity is important.

[Sue R]

Thanks for that very inspiring story, Julie!

[Mark Billadeau]

Thanks Julie for the interesting info. Here is a link to the ALBC newsletter article: Jacob Sheep Shed Light on Tay Sachs Disease. Tay-Sachs researchers now have a natural (not lab created) animal model with which to test possible human gene therapies.

 

Additional Tay-Sachs carrier sheep need to be identified so a sufficient number of af­fected sheep can be placed in gene therapy trials. The Horaks have given their carrier flock of eight Jacobs to the Consortium and Dr. Kolodny has offered the lysosomal carrier test at no cost to all Jacob sheep breeders.

 

Mark

[juliepoudrier]

I think the best part of the story is that the Horacks kept those carriers in their flock, even though the chance that the disease would be identified was slim and when they could easily have eliminated the gene from their sheep (and certainly there was no financial incentive to keep those sheep). They recognized that those carriers could be important and their faith has paid off and could pay off a whole lot more for people who may have had little hope of a cure for Tay-Sachs.

 

J.

[afrancis]

Similarly, I am relieved to know that there are organizations that are working at preserving grains, etc that have NOT been genetically modified. It bothers me a great deal to think that we could possibly be dependent on a very limited gene pool for our food products.

 

I hope you don't mind me veering off more into the plant world, but I just wrote an article in our community newspaper about home gardeners choosing heirloom, so-called 'old-fashioned' and open-pollinated vegetables for their gardens this year (and every year). Not only does it keep the genes alive, but also makes people more aware of the number of varieties out there (increasingly rare, unfortunately) that have been the parents of our modern (often sterile) hybrids and that need our active help in keeping them in existence and viable.

Love to see a pic of these sheep Julie.

Ailsa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_plant

[juliepoudrier]

Ailsa,

I also try to use heirloom vegetables and flowers. If you want to see pics of the Jacob sheep, click on the link Mark provided above.

 

J.

[KrisK]

Last year, I planted all heritage vegetables. The carrots, turnips and beets were wonderful. Unfortunately, our season for tomatoes was horrid so I didn't get a decent crop at all. One of the reasons I want Shetland sheep (beside the fact that I don't eat meat) is because it is a 'primitive' breed. I don't think they are endangered or rare but they are not your common place sheep either. And, from what I've read and learned about them, they will be well suited to my climate.

If I'm not mistaken, there is a farm not far from me that has some Jacobs sheep....were interesting looking!

[Tea]

We also plant only heirloom vegatables.

 

I think the primitive breeds are a great asset to my sheep breeding program. I add Icelandic and shetland to my fresian, lacune, Rue Arcott and dorset crosses. They give me lambs with better wool, better feet and the sheep are hardier and In my opinion more intelligent which helps when the #%$& hits the fan and the sheep have to help by acting resonably. As in the case last year when a dog got into my sheep and 4 ewes fought him off and the rest trailed 4 miles back to their home fields on their own through deep woods.

 

Down side is they require intelligent shepherding when handling or browsing loose as they don't flock as well. The Icelandics will really test a dog, OR a shepherd. My lambs are a bit smaller, MAYBE, but we are utilizing only native forage, and no grain. They grow a bit slower, but I think that is the Friesian.

 

Of course hybrid vigour helps all first crosses.

[urge to herd]

Wasn't one of the major causes of the Irish Potato Blight, leading to the Great Famine and a few other very harsh things, the fact that there was only one type or sub specie of potato being grown?

 

My regard for propagating and promoting heirloom/rare breeds of anything, particularly the more primitive things, comes from that. We need the variety to survive for our own survival.

 

Ruth

[Tea]

I agree with you. Hence our ag program at the project.

[ItsADogsLyfe]

this is a most interesting discussion and I've learned some things I had no idea about. I checked out the website Mark posted and under chickens found some of the breeds under being "watched" were some I used to breed.

[afrancis]

I agree with you. Hence our ag program at the project.

 

Tea,

What are you growing? I'm jealous because of your climate , but suspect you might have been victim to the earlier snow and resulting mudslides -- hope not !

Ailsa

[afrancis]

Ailsa,

I also try to use heirloom vegetables and flowers. If you want to see pics of the Jacob sheep, click on the link Mark provided above.

 

J.

 

Missed that Julie. Took a look and WHAT AWESOME HORNS! I never knew sheep could have TWO pair!

Ailsa

[juliepoudrier]

And now it's time to plug ALBC. They do good work inventorying and helping to establish additional breeding populations of rare breed livestock (breeds specific to the US). Membership is not expensive and I think it's a really good cause. You can use the same link Mark posted to get to their home page and their membership information.

 

J.

[Tea]

the garden?

 

My darling Pete is in charge of the garden. He planted some heirloom, peas, beans, squash, pumpkins, cabbages, corn, basil (Was normal basil.) and peppers but I'd have to dig up the bag that holds all our seeds. And its in THE CUPBOARD FROM H#@#! One of the tomatoes was a type from siberia. So it did ok......everything else tomatoe wise took too long to mature and you know how that goes. The rest of the garden did very well. Of course sheep manure is the BEST! And of course we have alot of indigenous stuff around here. Many kinds of berries and mushrooms (Tho I only eat two kinds of mushrooms because my eyesight is getting kind of bad.)

 

I had troubles this year due to all the snow and rain. However I am not near a river but on an island so although my one big paddock became a lake. Nothing was swimming this year. Though two buildings collasped because of wind and snow weights. We were shoveling all the time, But no stock was inside when they went down, so that was good.

 

We just put up the ram house back up and I moved the ram flock and my bucks up there today. This is always quite a move since they have to go loose down the road past the cabin and by my yowling team of sled dogs.

 

But it makes Cap and Gunny very happy.

 

What is your climate like?

[NorthfieldNick]

I'll second Julie's plug for the ALBC. I, too, raise rare-breed sheep (Cotswolds), and I love my heritage-breed chickens.

 

The preservation of many rare breeds needs better planning, I think. Like many commercial show sheep, I'm watching the Cotswold breed turn into a useless sheep because of show "standards" and the desire to win. A breeder in the registry I use who shows heavily pumps so much feed into their sheep that they had a TWENTY-ONE pound ram lamb last year. They were SO excited about his size, until he developed terrible joint problems from being so large. Who wants a sheep that needs a ton of grain to manage? Especially a heritage breed! My theory is that some people start showing (or get hooked on showing) rare breeds because the classes are often smaller, and the winning is easier.

[juliepoudrier]

Probably so Ben, and then they start to follow the trends set by all the other show breeds, which for the meat class is ever taller (doG knows why, since the space between the belly and the ground is worth nothing). Like with some dog breeds, some of the heritage sheep breeds seem to be splitting too--with those doing the showing breeding for ever larger sheep (even outside the breed standard) and those of us who are more inclined to preserve the breed for what is was, which in the case of the Tunis was a dual-purpose, meat and wool, sticking closer to the orginal "specs." Those who wish to classify the breed as a meat breed pay little attention to wool quality, and that's just a shame. I was also shocked at a wool sheep show last year to see that some Karakul breeders have very large sheep now too, and the judges at that particular show, all other things being equal, always placed the larger sheep first. Talk about incentive to breed bigger and bigger sheep!

 

The problem with planning is that even when people are in the same registry they can't always agree. We had a discussion last year on the Tunis list about a yearling ram who won at a particular show. He was bigger than the standard and those who show argued that a sheep in "show weight" is larger than normal. When others pointed out that this particular yearling was having trouble standing because of his size, all sorts of excuses came to the fore. No one would admit that the show folks are breeding the sheep too large. It's as if people put their heads firnly in the sand and let the blue rosettes and the money do the talking. Those of us who try to reason about the whole idea of preservation being to preserve the original are generally shouted down. We don't show our sheep and we generally sell to folks whose conservation philosophy more closely resembles our own instead of that of the show sheep folks. It's really pretty sad.

 

J.

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

I hate to admit my dumbness but, I'm now wondering in my lifetime after seeing the sheep here , how many I may have dismissed as goats. Every time someone post a pic of a group with unsusual breeds my first thought is goat untill I really inspect them. That was my first thought on the jacob sheep was wow shaved they look like goats.

 

I am really glad the people saved the carriers as it can hopefully lead to a cure of a horrible disease.

[juliepoudrier]

Sheryl,

A quick and easy ID method is that goats generally have tails that point up and sheep have tails that hang down. That doesn't mean that goats can't drop their tails down, but it is a pretty quick way to tell in general.

 

J.

[Sasha's Mom]

Fascinating!

 

We are going to try our hand at heritage turkeys this spring. We've got the chickens almost figured out, and have really learned a lot from the ALBC. The garden is a variety of old and new.

[ItsADogsLyfe]

Here is a picture of goats and sheep together. Not so good a pic I'm afraid, but how many are goats and how many are sheep?

 

[PennyT]

I've never owned a goat. I'll give this a whirl to encourage anyone who might actually be able to tell from a photo to try. I spy a Boer or Boer-cross on the far right back row; in the middle row, another Boer or cross second from right and a buck goat third from right. The Barb looking animals are a mystery. I'd have to see them in person.

 

When I first moved to southern Mississippi a few years ago, I went into the nearest local one pump gas station and buffet, pronounced boo-fey. The proprietor, Sheila who is gossip central, introduced herself and said, "You must be the lady with the goats and border collies." I said that I was except that the goats were really hair sheep. Sheila gave me a look that plainly said, "You poor city slicker. Somebody sold you goats and told you they were sheep."

 

So now, will any brave soul tell me those Boers are really Dorpers and I should have known by the ears?

 

The only one I'd be willing to bet money on as being caprine is the buck in the middle row. I almost guessed an Angora in the back row then changed my mind. I can't see the hair well enough to distinguish. Years ago, I trialed pretty regularly on Angoras. My old Emily, now of sainted memory, loved the way they shrieked when heeled. They were interesting to work and I'd have some if they survived down here, which they don't according to everyone I've asked.

 

Penny